If a soul brings a meal offering to Hashem (Vayikra 2:1)

This past week, a friend asked me if I wanted Ten Million Dollars and explained that if I predict the winner of the NCAA Basketball Finals, I can win this. I told him that I’m not interested at all in $10 Million and then explained why. The more money a person has, the more stress. The more difficult life is. We all dream of having loads of money, but a person needs to realize that the more money he has, the more responsibility he has.

This week’s parsha begins by mentioning karbonos (offerings) that are voluntarily brought by individuals. The karbon can be from animals, birds, or flour. Our Sages tell us that animal offerings were normally brought by the wealthy, bird offerings by the middle class, and meal (flour) offerings from the poor people. When the Torah mentions the meal offering, it mentions a “soul” brings it (which it does not say by the others). This is because when a poor person gives, he gives a lot more from himself than others.

There are two people who give to a yeshiva. One is a wealthy person who gives $100,000. The other is a poor person who gives a few hundred dollars. Which gift is better? Of course, the wealthy person’s, correct?

Well, not in Hashem’s eyes. For the wealthy man with $10 Million, $100,000 is not very much money. He still has much money left over to pay for all of his living expenses and many luxuries. For the poor man, to give from the few dollars he has left over after paying for living expenses is a big challenge. He barely has enough to pay his bills, but he still gives what he can.

When a person has a large amount of money, he also has a larger responsibility. I have seen families who are extremely wealthy and use their finances the correct way to help the community. It is a very difficult test though. When those who aren’t multi-millionaires dream of “hitting it big”, we think of all of the great luxuries we can buy. But do we also think how much more we need to give back to the community. An $18 donation is not enough anymore. Even a $180,000 donation might not be enough anymore if you have $10 Million. When you have that type of wealth, you need to give from your soul just as much as the poor man does.

Good Shabbos!
-y.e.s.
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